1. Field of Endeavor
The invention relates to improved grips to accommodate various hand sizes for popular pistol grip firearms, including rifles such as AR10/AR15/M4/M16, AK47/74, H&K, and Barrett rifles and all other rifles, handguns, and firearms with detachable pistol grips.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
One of the most widely used rifles available today is the AR15 civilian variant of the M16 service rifle. One of the remarkable features of the AR15 is that virtually anyone can shoot it. It is light in weight and, due to the gas reloading system, the gun has very little recoil. This has made it extremely popular. In its current design, the gun is modular and numerous accessories have been made for customizing the gun to the individual shooter.
A few examples include: sights can be added or changed to accommodate different shooting scenarios; flat top receivers are available for mounting optics to improve distance shooting; and rails can be added to hold accessories such as bipods, lasers, and flashlights on the basic gun to suit an individual's desire.
Notably, one of the most widely available features is modified pistol grips. These have various angle of rake, size of handles, compartments, padding, textures, and rubber sleeves.
A sizeable industry has developed around supplying numerous accessories for this series of rifles.
Accuracy, the consistent delivery of a bullet to exactly the point desired, is a valuable attribute to all shooters. It is a matter of great consequence to hunters and competitors, and it is literally a matter of life and death to military and law enforcement shooters.
Generally, the more accurate a weapon, the more valuable and useful it is. Because of this, improving accuracy is a never-ending quest that fuels multiple businesses and extensive research and development globally.
Accuracy can be affected by controllable and uncontrollable factors. Wind, rain, and obstacles are some examples of uncontrollable factors.
Controllable factors are continuously and extensively studied. There is an unrelenting drive to improve every controllable factor in accuracy throughout civilian and military organizations, academia and business.
The US Army conducted a survey and published results on hand size distributions in December 1991. Data is published for measurement (17), Digit 2 Link Length, which is the length from the tip of the index finger to the center of the palm (table attached). This measurement is a reasonable representation of the problem confronted by devices embodying principles of the present invention, and the problem existing on the AR15 specifically. The range in this measurement is 3.34 to 4.60 inches in females and 3.364 to 4.92 in males. Thus, to cover the entire population, a device has to accommodate a range of 1.58 inches. The inventors' personal measurements of this length are 4.58 and 4.82 inches.
A useful analogy may be drawn using gloves: fitting the grip and trigger is like trying to find the right glove for one's hand. If one is trying on knit gloves, the issue is easily addressed by the stretchy nature of knit fabrics. If, however, one is trying on leather gloves, even very soft ones, this becomes a highly specific fitting session. In order for a leather glove to work properly, it must be very closely sized to the individual's hand that is using it. A poor fit is a significant problem.
Devices embodying principles of the present invention are intended to accommodate even the largest hands. Currently the AR15 standard pistol grip has a length of approximately 2⅛ inches between the trigger surface and the back of the pistol grip. The inventors herein estimate that approximately 80 percent of females and 35 percent of males will have this produce a comfortable position for optimized accurate shooting. This leaves the hands of 65% of men and 20% of females in a non-optimum position, which would benefit from an adjustable pistol grip.
Assume that this target population would like to shoot accurately. Because proper trigger control is a skill that is controllable by the shooter, and it is considered of paramount importance in getting an accurate shot, there are a number of granted U.S. patents for a variety of ergonomic and mechanical devices to improve the shooter's ability to apply skill to shooting and to minimize error introduced through poor fit or function.
When the sights are properly aligned and the trigger is squeezed, any movement of the barrel will introduce an error and reduce accuracy. In hunting and competition, this is ruinous; in military and law enforcement it can be catastrophic.